October 6, 2025

Have you ever been frustrated with your computer running slowly, freezing, or behaving oddly, only to find that a simple reboot fixes the problem? We’ve all heard the tech support joke: “Have you tried turning it off and on again”? Rebooting might seem like a basic or even outdated piece of advice, but it remains one of the most effective troubleshooting steps for computer issues. Let’s explore why rebooting your computer is necessary and how it benefits the health and performance of your system.

What Actually Happens When You Reboot

When you restart, your computer’s memory (RAM) is completely cleared. All those background programs and temporary files that slowly build up while you work? Gone. Your operating system gets a fresh start, and hardware components reset to a stable state.

Rebooting also triggers updates. Many security patches and software upgrades only finish installing when your machine restarts. Without a reboot, your computer may be missing critical protections or running outdated code.

Benefits of Rebooting

1. Clears Memory and Stops Background Processes

When you use your computer, programs and processes run continuously and consume your system’s RAM (random-access memory). Over time, some applications can leak memory or fail to release it once they’re done—this is known as a memory leak. Such leaks accumulate and slow down your system. Rebooting clears the RAM, effectively giving your computer a fresh start and freeing up memory resources.

2. Resolves Software Glitches

Operating systems and applications sometimes encounter bugs or get stuck in a problematic state, causing freezes or crashes. These glitches can result from corrupted temporary files, unresponsive services, or conflicts between software components. Restarting your computer can terminate these errant processes and reload software components, often resolving the issue without further intervention.

3. Applies System Updates Effectively

Many system and software updates require a reboot to fully install and integrate changes. These updates often include important security patches, bug fixes, and performance improvements. By regularly rebooting, you ensure that your system remains up to date and better protected against vulnerabilities.

4. Improves System Performance

Over time, a computer’s performance can degrade as resources are tied up by background tasks or fragmented processes. Rebooting helps defragment memory allocation and shuts down unnecessary services that may have started automatically. This refresh often results in a noticeable increase in speed and responsiveness.

5. Prevents Hardware and Software Conflicts

Sometimes hardware drivers or software components can conflict, causing instability or failures. Restarting clears these conflicts by reinitializing hardware drivers and resetting software states, which helps maintain system stability.

How Often Should You Reboot?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but once a week is a good baseline for most people. If you run a lot of programs simultaneously or leave your computer on 24/7, rebooting daily or every few days can help.

The frequency depends on your usage patterns:

• Daily heavy users: Consider rebooting every few days
• Moderate users: Once a week is typically sufficient
• Light users: Weekly or bi-weekly reboots should suffice

Signs you need to reboot immediately:

• Programs frequently freeze or crash
• Unusually slow performance
• Error messages appearing regularly
• Network connectivity issues
• After installing new software or updates

Sleep vs. Shutdown vs. Restart

Most systems give you the option to let your computer’s OS go into “sleep” mode. While sleep mode saves your current session but doesn’t clear memory. Alternatively, you may think that completely shutting off the computer is the most complete option for rebooting. However, shutdown turns off the computer but may use fast startup features that don’t fully clear the system. Your best option for optimal performance is to restart your computer. Restart provides the most complete refresh of your system. Modern solid-state drives (SSDs) have made rebooting much faster, removing the old excuse that restarting takes too long. Most computers with SSDs can restart in under a minute.

What Is Stopping You?

Many attorneys and legal professionals do not like to restart their computers because it means reopening applications, closed browser tabs, and more. In some cases their computers may take a long time to reboot, causing delays in getting work started. There are some ways to make rebooting less of a headache.

PowerToys Workspaces

Microsoft has a free suit of tools that you can download called PowerToys that can improve some of the operating system’s basic functions. There are tools for batch resizing of images, better template management with New+, file sneak peek in File Explorer, PowerRename for bulk renaming files and much more. One of the PowerToys in the Windowing and Layout group gives you the ability to launch a set of applications to custom positions and configurations with one click. It is called Workspaces. Set up any number of workspaces and after a reboot launch your workspace. Using Workspaces also allows you to disable more applications on Startup, which can often slow your computer down considerably after a reboot.

Setting Open Pages in Your Browser

In most browsers (Edge, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc.) you can set a different page to open when you start the browser, rather than the browser’s default page. However, did you know you can customize your browser to open multiple pages when you open it? Add your favorite legal research platform, your SaaS based practice management system, your to-do app, your firm’s intranet, and anything else you want to open. In MS Edge go to the “more” menu (three horizontal dots) and choose Settings from the drop-down menu. Then go to “Start, home, and new tab page” and under “On startup” in “Open custom sites” you can add as many websites as would like to. Or, if you want to open all the sites you want to open do so and then choose “Use all open tabs”. In Chrome click the vertical dots (More) and choose Settings – On startup and add a specific page or set of pages or use the current pages you have open. Next time you open the your browser it will preload all your frequently visited sites.

Additionally, if you close your browser and want to reopen closed tabs in MacOS open the browser and hold the “shift+command+T” keys. In Windows in the browser hold the “shift+control+T” keys.

Best Practices for Rebooting

Before restarting your computer, it’s important to save your work and close any open programs and files. When you’re ready to reboot, choose the “Restart” option rather than simply shutting down, as this provides a complete system refresh. During the restart process, avoid interrupting the computer and allow it to fully shut down and start back up. Additionally, make it a habit to reboot after installing major system updates or new software to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Make Rebooting a Habit

Think of rebooting like brushing your teeth — a small routine that prevents bigger problems later. The next time your computer starts acting sluggish or glitchy, try a restart before you panic. Better yet, schedule regular reboots and keep your system running smoothly all the time.